South Carolina Personal Injury Law Firm Blog

The Houston Chronicle reports an $80 million settlement for the families of 23 Bellaire nursing home residents who died in a bus fire while evacuating from Hurricane Rita in September 2005.

Sunrise Senior Living Services of McLean, Va., owners of Bellaire, ordered evacuation of the facility to a sister facility in Dallas the week before Hurricane Rita. While in route to Dallas, the bus caught fire and the 23 residents died, The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration later determined the probable cause of the fire was insufficient lubrication of a rear axle. The axle overheated, causing a fire which quickly filled the bus with flames and heavy smoke.

The settlement includes an agreement to end a lawsuit against the nursing home’s corporate owner.

The Louthian Law Firm has over 50 years of experience pursuing wrongful death lawsuits. If you have lost a loved one and feel you have a wrongful death claim, call our experienced attorneys at 1-866-410-5656 for a free consultation

Bus Fire Wrongful Death

Labels: auto accident, AutoAccident, In the News, TruckAccident, WrongfulDeath

In the highly anticpated case of Wyeth vs. Levine, the Supreme court has ruled that federal law does not preempt a state's ruling that the drug Phenergan was inadequately labeled. Past rulings, such as Riegel v. Medtronic had established that FDA decisions on drug safety preempted state rulings, effectively shielding drug manufacturers from pharmaceutical injury claims. This ruling is being viewed as a win for drug injury victims.

The Louthian Law Firm has over 40 years experience in defending the rights of South Carolina's injured. If you or someone you care about has been injured or killed by an unsafe prescription drug, contact the Louthian Law Firm today at 1-866-410-5656 for a free evaluation of your case.


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Labels: consumer, In the News, personalinjury, pharmaceutical news

Researchers at North Carolina's Wake Forest University School of Medicine and Britain's University of East Anglia have found that the diabetes drugs Avandia and Actos, doubles the risk of bone fractures in women but not in men. The information was based on a 10 previous clinical studies lasting at least a year involving 14,000 patients. The risk of bone fractures is yet another concern dealing with Avandia. In November 2008, Public Citizen called for a ban due to the risk of liver failure and other life-threatening side effects. Avandia is manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline and Actos is manufactured by Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America.

If you or someone you care about was seriously injured by a prescription drug, you should speak with a South Carolina pharmaceutical litigation attorney at the Louthian Law Firm as soon as possible. We have won justice for South Carolinians since 1959, and recovered millions of dollars to help sick and injured people heal and move on. For a free consultation, call us today at 1-866-410-5656

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Labels: consumer, In the News, personal injury, personalinjury, pharmaceutical news, products

Herb Louthian, of the Louthian Law Firm in Columbia, South Carolina has just been named a "Best Lawyer" in the 2009 annual edition of Best Lawyers In America. Louthian received the honor in the category of Labor and Employment Law.

"I'm honored to be recognized by my peers for my legal work, and I'll redouble my efforts to help South Carolina's citizens who have faced job discrimination," Louthian said.

The Louthian Law Firm is currently accepting employment law cases involving sexual harassment in the workplace, discrimination and other employment matters.

The prestigious Best Lawyers honor is the result of an exhaustive confidential peer review by more than 2.5 million attorneys. Best Lawyers is considered by many to be the definitive peer-review publication for the legal community.

Herb Louthian received a law degree from the University of South Carolina in 1959 where he was a member of the Editorial Board of the Law Review. Bert Louthian followed his father into the legal profession, joining the firm in 1983 after receiving a law degree from the University of South Carolina. Father and son’s combined trial experience totals more than 60 years. Their full bios appear here.

Labels: In the News

Labels: aviation accidents, AviationAccidents, In the News, personal injury

An interesting debate on South Carolina speed limits is heating up the pages of the Charleston Post and Courier. A recent editorial on speeding prompted community response from readers who debate speed limits, enforcement of limits, and lack of driver education. Certainly uneducated and careless drivers place everyone at risk and can be a major cause of South Carolina Auto Accidents. But will raising South Carolina speed limits really do away with any of these problems?

What does a South Carolina auto accident attorney care about speed limits? A lot. Speed can affect the outcome of an accident – in fact, the relationship between speed and reaction time has been well documented. A driver who is in violation of posted speed limits can provide much-needed ammunition to their opponents in court, who can argue that their ignorance of the speed limit constituted reckless driving and places them under an obligation to compensate victims of their actions.

Labels: In the News